
d Glory At 
Gettysburg 



1863 :: 1913 




Souvenir Poem of the Fiftieth Anniversary 
of the Great Battle 



By CAPTAIN R. K. BEECH AM 

of the "Iron Brigade" 

Author of 

" Gettysburg— The Pivotal Battle of the Civil War" 

(Published by A. C. McClurg &, Co., Chicago) 






DEDICATED 
TO THE SPIRIT OF PATRIOTISM 

By 

CAPTAIN R. K. BEECHAM 

The Iron Brigade Poet 



Old Glory At Gettysburg 

1863 : 1913 

A 

FIRST CANTO -1863 

Across the river from the Southland came 
A mighty hosT, equipped and armed for war, 

With flaunting banners in the sky aflame, 
Borne on a surge of sleel, gleaming afar; 

And at its head a war-wise chieftain rode, 
Army and steed obeying his firm rein ; 

A wild ambition his proud heart o'erflowed— 
The plaudits of his country's foes to gain, 
By smiting her imperial heritage in twain. 

That chieftain saw himself a conqueror, 
A continent low-bending 'neath his sway ; 

The demi-god of Occidental war, 
A mightier than Caesar, in his day; 

He saw HIS NAME wide o'er the world displayed 
He saw — in dreams, luring him to defeat— 

The Nation's capital in ruins laid, 
Her vanquished armies scattered in retreat ! 
He saw the Great Republic proslrate at his feet ! 



But lo ! A radiant light around him shone ! 
Athwart his van a form majeslic rose, 

As from the battlements of heaven, thrown 
In grand defiance of a Nation's foes ! 

" The Stars and Stripes ! My Country's Flag !" 
he said ; 
" Emblem of Victory in days of yore ! 

Beneath her folds, my sires fought and bled ; 
Alas ! This day her triumph ends ; before 
The sword of Lee, her glory pales forevermore !" 



A madman's boa&,wrought in Ambition's heat! 
Not vaunting wins, where sweeps War's wither- 
ing breath; 

A foeman.worthy of thy sleel, shall meet 
And bid thee welcome, to the feasl of Death ! 

From Penn's green woods gather the Blue and 
Cray, 
The hills and valleys with armed legions swarm; 

In Battle's fierce, magnificent array 
Their serried ranks th' opposing armies form, 
And far and wide, in awful fury, bursls the sTorm ! 



For three appalling days War's horrid roar 
The firm hills shook, and shot and shrieking shell, 

Drenched all the fair, green slopes with human 
gore, 
While rose the smoke of Battle's seething hell ! 

But through that awful sTrife, time and again 
The rifting clouds of sulph'rous smoke, revealed 

The "Starry Flag of Liberty ;" and when, 
Back from his la£f mad charge the foeman reeled, 
Old Glory shone triumphant o'er that blood-bot 
field ! 



O, Gettysburg ! Thy glory cannot fade ! 
In thy great name heroic deeds must live, 

And till the march of Time himself is stayed, 
Shall inspiration to each patriot give ! 

Thy rock-ribbed hills and granite shafts shall tell 
Far down the ages ; how the loyal, brave 

Defenders of the Union, fought and fell, 
Their Country's grand integrity to save, 
O'er which One Flag,01d Glory, shall forever wave 




SECOND CANTO-1913 

After Fifty Years 

Now, half a century hath passed away 
Since this historic field was won — and lost! 

And here assembles on these hills today, 
Only a remnant of war's ancient host ! 

Tho' gone from earth forever, in their place, 
From wild Atlantic t' broad Pacific's strand, 

Gather unnumbered thousands of their race, 
Where they had fought, in honor just to stand; 
Called by the Patriotic Spirit of our land ! 



Fade from all hearts the color of their line 
In old war days, so terrible and dark ; 

Now, Blue and Gray in peaceful vestments 
shine, 
Or comrades then, or foes; (God save the mark !) 

The stirring drum, calls us to arms no more ; 
No more we form in battle's dread array ; 

Foemen we parted here, the conflict o'er, 
And after fifty years have passed away, 
Upon the same field meet, as friends : we are 
all gray ! 

But there is One, that age doth not impair, 
Nor danger daunt, nor conflict mar that form ; 

Ordained of God, triumphant in mid-air 
To calm the whirl-wind and subdue the storm ! 

Leaders have failed, armies have passed away; 
But still, above "Fame's Camping Ground," 
appears 

The Flag we guarded fifty years, today ; 
Crimsoned with patriots' blood, bedewed in tears, 
Old Glory grows in fame and beauty, with the 
years ! 

O, Sons and daughters of our South and North-- 
This glorious land that Liberty reveres ! 

With eyes unsealed, behold her shining forth 
In love united, for a thousand years ! 

Jointly we plant on this great battlefield, 
Enriched with brothers' blood, the seed of Peace; 

God of our Fathers ! vouchsafe prolific yield : 
Let thoughts of civil strife forever cease, 
And bid the greatness of Old Glory's reign increase 



m 21 



Address 

CAPTAIN R. K. BEECHAM 

2624 Rucker Avenue 

Everett, Washington 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



INI III III ill lllll ill! I; 

013 701 939 5 ^ 



Arranged and Produced by the 

PUGET PRESS 

In Everett ^gflfeu Washington 



